October 2011 Archive

We went out a second time with the 30 sqm kite and boat designer David Alan Williams. For the first time, we removed the launching mast before sailing to reduce wind drag. We’re now discussing ways to eliminate using the mast altogether. We again ran into Johnny on the water. Two of Richard’s friends joined us for the test. Prior to using the kite, we towed the boat (see previous post by Jamie). Thanks Dudu for taking photos!

Boat designer David Alan Williams is here for several days to consult with us on K2 design. Today was the first day of his trip, and we took K2 out for a tow test and to fly the new 30 sqm kite. Ann accompanied him and Don and Joe on the tow test, and David, Joe, and Richard took turns with Don for the kite test. The new kite worked well, as did the boat, although the wind/kite were insufficient for us to foil well. Before the test, Jamie completed the electronic ride-height controls on the tiller so it is now possible to adjust all three foils. We saw Johnny Heineken out on the water.

Yesterday we did a careful tow test of K2, pulling it nearly directly behind the Protector (on a long line to minimize interference from the wake). The kiteboat was towed steadily for one minute at each of a range of speeds. The results are shown in the attached graph.

Today the guys tried the boat with a larger kite–the 50 sqm kite we used last summer with K1 and Cheyenne. In preparation, we lengthened the launching frame. We intended just to practice launching on this test, but launch was so successful that we also got the boat foiling briefly before dusk. Eric Yeung, a former Makani intern, came out to help. Thanks Gabe for taking photos!

Dudu flew a few of the Makani team out to their test site last night, primarily to locate the field and also to test the video equipment in the helicopter and check out a gyroscope camera mount. The gyroscope was noticeably helpful and the test yielded beautiful footage that could easily be motion stabilized for stable aerial views of a kiteboat or a wing test. In the attached video, Andrea started with a shot of the airport that was filmed before the gyroscope was attached to the camera and as you will see, it is very shaky. The gyroscope takes ten minutes to get up to speed, and does not change direction very easily, but with a little forethought and practice, any […more]